April snow flurries and the warmest winter on record

April is the cruelest month, and this April is crueler than most.

Snow flurries!  I had snow flurries this morning before sunrise.  And temperatures solidly below freezing.  Just when it looked as though spring had finally arrived, another blast of near-winter makes me drag out my winter jacket again.

Yes, I know the photo is deceptive. It looks like a pretty spring morning, not one with skim ice in the puddles and bone-chilling wind gusts. The trees have that fuzzy look they get before the leaves pop out.  I think the leaves might be wishing they were still hiding in their warm, cozy buds for the next few days. I rather feel the same way.

I pity the poor barn swallows that arrived a few days ago.  I can’t believe they will be very successful finding mosquitos for a while.  It’s hard for people in this part of the country to wrap their heads around the fact that 96% of our earth experienced a much warmer than average winter.  In fact the winter was the warmest on record worldwide.   You can read about that here:  http://www.weather.com/science/environment/news/warmest-winter-on-record-earth.  There’s a nice global map that shows the eastern half of the U.S. as the earth’s only cold region.  Aren’t we just the lucky ones?  But here, in the cold spot of the world, winter just won’t let go.